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CAMDEN — Thousands of New Jersey
residents are affected by domestic violence every year. In many cases, escaping
an abusive relationship requires social support and legal assistance.

Students at the Rutgers School of
Law–Camden are answering the call for those services.

Through Rutgers–Camden’s Domestic
Violence Project and Domestic Violence Clinic, law students are providing critical
legal help to domestic violence victims in New Jersey.

The students assist more than 600 people
per year through the combined services of the two programs by providing pro
bono legal information and counsel at the Camden County Courthouse.

“I find it entirely gratifying to
work with members of the South Jersey community,” says Logan Pettigrew, a
third-year Rutgers–Camden law student originally from Tennessee and now living
in Philadelphia. “Prior to the clinic, I had no exposure to these factual
scenarios, and had never known anyone affected by domestic
violence. Without the clinic, these clients, in most cases, would not be
able to independently seek representation.”

Both the Domestic Violence Clinic, which
students take for course credit, and the Domestic Violence Project, a volunteer
program that does not award credit, give students the unique opportunity to receive
hands on experience in domestic violence law.

In the clinic, third-year law students
provide legal representation to domestic violence victims from South Jersey,
most of them from Camden County. There are eight law students enrolled in the
Domestic Violence Clinic at Rutgers–Camden this semester.

The students in the clinic counsel and
interview victims, gather necessary documentation, and file amendments, all
without cost to the client.

“The Domestic Violence Clinic is not only
a needed resource for families experiencing domestic violence, but it is also a
superior educational opportunity for law students,” says Victoria Chase, a
clinical associate professor of law at Rutgers–Camden.

Clinic students say working with clients
is the best way for law students to build trial advocacy skills.

The 15 students volunteering for the
Domestic Violence Project this semester are working with the Domestic Violence
Unit of the Camden County Family Court, where they assist victims of domestic
violence in the process of completing complaints and obtaining temporary
restraining orders.

“The Domestic Violence Project is
vital because a majority of the people who come in for a restraining order
rarely understand what it is they're asking for or what a judge is looking for
to grant the order,” says John Shindle, a third-year Rutgers–Camden law student
who is a student director for the project. “We provide the victims with
information on temporary and final restraining orders and their options for
going forward in court.”

The students volunteer at the Camden
County Courthouse Mondays through Thursdays. In addition to meeting with
plaintiffs, they hand out information handbooks that provide legal information
about domestic violence.

“The handbook contains information about the cycle of
violence, what to do before the hearing, how to amend a complaint, and
appropriate conduct at a final restraining order hearing,” says Milly Vazquez,
a second-year law student from Haddonfield who helped translate the handbook
into Spanish. “I'm really thankful to have the opportunity to help victims of
domestic violence through my work with the project. I truly feel that I am
making a difference.”

The students involved with the Domestic Violence Project
also refer plaintiffs to the Domestic Violence Clinic and South Jersey Legal
Services for free legal representation.

“I think it's important to both recognize
that the community which we live in has residents who can greatly benefit from
our help and that domestic violence isn’t a problem that is confined to any
particular community,” says Kathleen Kelliher, a second-year law student from Princeton
now living in Camden.

According to the U.S. Department of
Justice, one in four women will be a victim of domestic violence at some point
in her lifetime and 15 percent of domestic violence victims are men.

“Our goal is to do what we can to help
plaintiffs be prepared. It’s about being emotionally prepared as well as
legally prepared,” says Anne Mallgrave, the director of the Domestic Violence
Project at Rutgers–Camden and an adjunct clinical professor of law.

The Domestic Violence Project started at
the Rutgers School of Law–Camden in 1995 and the Domestic Violence Clinic was
launched in 2002.

“The opportunity to speak with the
victims and hear first-hand how severe their struggle can be has really opened
my eyes,” says Jeff Kasten, a second-year law student from Collingswood. “There
is always the chance that our volunteer work may help a young man or woman get
the court’s protection against what could be a very real threat on that
person's life, and that is why the Domestic Violence project means so much to
me.”

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